Suggestions for an on-call urban dweller page

[Meghanner]

Hi Everyone,

I am undergoing somewhat of a transition right now and need some help adapting my primal lifestyle to it. I recently moved from the mountains in Alberta into the big city of Toronto. I work as a midwife and am on call ALOT (20-25 days/month). I used to be able to trail run and go for long walks/hikes when I lived in the mountains but my new job requires me to be within 30mins of the hospital (I live about 30 mins away currently) and there are not really many places to get out and run around.
I've been doing some TRX workouts in my back yard and I'm not afraid of hitting the gym. I've been doing treadmill sprints once a week and regularly spinning but I feel like I need more to maintain my fitness. Anyone have any suggestions for me...besides getting a new job? FYI Its a one year contract and I'm looking for options outside the city with access to trails and more greenspace

[jfreaksho]

The first recommendation I have is to make sure that with your TRX or bodyweight workouts, that you put together some sort of plan for how you are going to progress. Adding more repetitions only counts as progression for a while, then you have to add more difficulty. Weight lifting plans all include adding a certain amount of weight over time; bodyweight workouts should increase difficulty over time, in a structured way.

Second, sprints only need 50-100 yards. If you have a large lot, you might be able to do them in your yard, but you should be able to do them back and forth on your street. It's not as much fun as trail running, but still effective.

[EyeOfRound]

I used to be a rural paramedic working 96-hr shifts and I would literally run laps around the hospital (where the ambulance was located) with my pager on me. I kept my uniform in the car so that I'd be able to run to the bay and change within 2-3 mins of receiving a page.

[twa2w]

I would say work out at the hospital. Most have stairs. Try taking some small handweights - ie about 2 to 3 lbs - start light- and sprint up several flights of stairs pumping the hand weights. then walk back down and repeat several times. Up the weights as you get stronger but be careful once you get up to 5 lbs and over. You can do one step at a time, two at time or leap from side to side up the stairs or hop up the stairs one or two at a time for variation. Stair workouts can be extremely challenging due tothe vertical compnement. Highly recommend in winter and rainy weather - almost no one uses the stairs inthe hospital so you should have it pretty much to your self and in many hospitals the stairs are very wide so lots of room. If it is nice - get outside though.
Cheers
J

[Meghanner]

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually am only at the hospital when I have a client in active labour. The rest of the time I'm just basically farting around the community so I really have no excuses. I think I'm just bored. Yesterday I hit the gym and did intervals on the treadmill then some pullups, dips and planks between clients in labour. I agree, TRX workouts have gotten a bit easier and it's important to have a plan for progression. I need some more TRX ideas. Perhaps I'll put the call out there. I have weight trained in the past and put on mass (especially in my lower body) very quickly and don't really want to do that. I'm a climber taking a break from climbing for a bit and I don't want to mess up my currently optimal balance of strength/weight while I'm on hiatus.

[Annlee]

Another possibility would be KBs - you can get a fantastic cardio as well as full body workout with them. And you won't necessarily add muscle mass (especially to your legs - Pavel was once told it looked like he was "riding chickens" LOL). I like the Viking Warrior Conditioning program (Viking Warrior Conditioning: Kenneth Jay: 9780938045045: Amazon.com: Books) program. I do snatches with a lighter bell and swings with my heavier one. It's a workout and a half.

[TorMag]

Another possibility would be KBs - you can get a fantastic cardio as well as full body workout with them. And you won't necessarily add muscle mass (especially to your legs - Pavel was once told it looked like he was "riding chickens" LOL). I like the Viking Warrior Conditioning program (Viking Warrior Conditioning: Kenneth Jay: 9780938045045: Amazon.com: Books) program. I do snatches with a lighter bell and swings with my heavier one. It's a workout and a half.

+1

[mommymd]

Toronto is full of ravines. Schedule a run through them on your off call days.

[Tom B-D]

I'm in the local parks all the time--sprinting, doing pull-ups, pushups, etc. Also tai chi...I'm that weird guy in the park. I can sympathize with you, having grown up in the country (though not the mountains, wow) and now living in Chicago. I just need to be outside a LOT, whatever the season, and the parks are my daily go-to. Then I head out to the Morton Arboretum or Lake Michigan beaches when I have a little more time and can get the kids to go along! That ravine suggestion sounded good too...